Five ways to create a great mobile user experience

The marketing sector can be a complicated place as new marketing tools and techniques are launched, almost on a weekly basis. Powered by The Drum Network, this regular column invites The Drum Network's members to demystify the marketing trade and offer expert insight and opinion on what is happening in the marketing industry today that can help your business tomorrow.

It is no longer enough to merely provide a desktop responsive website for mobile devices; today’s consumers demand more. Getting the mobile experience right is vital, with more online searches taking place on mobile and mobile-first indexing from Google, you simply cannot afford to leave it as an afterthought.

Mobile users are no longer considered as rushing and ‘on the go’; they use their smartphones all the time. Beyond just being the nearest device to hand, the smartphone provides an instant and accessible connection to each and every type of media that users want to consume.

50% of mobile users will abandon a mobile transaction because of a poor experience and 61% say that if they can’t find what they are looking for immediately on a mobile site they will quickly move to another site, with 40% admitting they'll visit a competitor site according to Google.

With so much at stake, how can you ensure that you create a great mobile user experience?

1. Know your users

Through user research you can gain a deep understanding of what your consumers want, their needs, expectations and frustrations. The biggest mistake you can possibly make is to use opinions and assumptions to make decisions when designing a website or an app.

2. Consider how people use their devices

Whether it's the one-thumb user, inaccuracy of taps and centre screen attention, these aspects should be considered when designing for mobile.

3. Design mobile first

When you design the mobile experience first, you are immediately thinking within the context of a smaller screen and how users will interact with the content and how it’s consumed. You can’t just deliver a stripped back version of a desktop site - this mobile is your site, it needs to contain all the relevant content and functionality that your users expect.

4. Optimise for the device

A mobile device has so many native features that can help streamline processes such as GPS, camera, gyroscopes, accelerometers, stored data, smart defaults, senors, touch screens and gesture control. Applying these to processes such as form filling can make a laborious task feel more achievable.

5. Consider a Progressive Web App (PWA)

A PWA is a mobile site with functionality similar to a native app without the need to be downloaded from an App store. Offline access, push notifications and home screen shortcuts are just some of the benefits that a PWA can bring.

How to create a great mobile experience in 2019 is a useful free guide with many practical tips and examples. If you are considering updating your website in 2019, think about the first device you reach for when researching online. Ensure that your mobile user experience is superior and it will be a competitive advantage for your business.